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December 04, 2013 (Chantilly, France) – UCI President Brian Cookson today addressed stakeholders from the global cycling family including teams and organisers who were attending the annual UCI WorldTour seminar taking place in Chantilly. Opening the two-day seminar, UCI President Cookson said:

“The UCI WorldTour is home to professional cycling’s leading competitions, and is for many people our sport’s “shop window” and each and every one of you present has an important part to play in its success and its popularity. You are all key players in the WorldTour, and the UCI greatly appreciates your contribution and values your input into any discussions concerning the future of our sport. That is why, for the second year running, we have brought both the organisers and the teams together for this UCI WorldTour seminar.

“The 2013 UCI WorldTour was marked by great racing and great locations but there is work to be done and I am delighted to be here as the UCI’s new President to lead that work. Professional cycling must adapt to changes and new techniques and this is not always an easy path, but it is one that all of us who have the best interests of our sport at heart, can and must take.

“We must improve the financial performance of professional cycling, and to do this we must increase its visibility, make it clearer and more attractive. By doing so, we will have a more stable structure that will support all those who wish to contribute to the development of our sport in both historic and new territories.

“Over the next two days, we will discuss concrete issues which concern all of us: our different roles, new technology, television, and the culture of professional cycling. Indeed, television coverage plays an important and growing role in the success and the promotion of our sport and a good part of tomorrow’s session will be devoted to television production.

“We have a very full programme ahead of us and I am looking forward to getting down to business. I repeat, once again, that we are at the beginning of a new era and it is together, united, and only united, that we will be able to rise to the challenges that await us.”

1 Comments For This Post

Does anyone remember the UCI races we held in Toronto and the ones held on the World Championship Course in Hamilton?

The smart, experienced group that organized those and who organized the World Championship are no longer doing these. Why? They were demoralized and discouraged by the OCA to continue with their organizing and some even felt the OCA reneged on paying their expenses.

The money gained from the World Championships that was supposed to continue a yearly UCI race in Hamilton was given to McMaster University to produce who? (don’t kid yourself as you can’t produce much without coaches with at least 25 years experience in the sport).

To quote the OCA leadership “those (UCI) races are a little too complicated to our liking”. What? What are you doing in a leadership role if you can’t handle organizing a UCI race or even have the desire to do so?

We in Ontario are in a time warp that goes back 60 years when cycling was in diapers. The rest of the cycling world is introducing UCI races like Quebec 2, Alberta 1, and Ontario a big goose egg with plenty of Mickey Mouse races with NO spectators. Easy to organize I guess but the sport is more than and exercise and an extension of a gym workout.

Cycling is AN INTERNATIONAL MEGA SPORT (second only to world soccer) and we need a UCI event in Ontario to show everyone what we should strive for and to give Ontario athletes a chance to perform with the best and Ontario promoters experience in organizing the ultimate in racing events.